


Falling for a Turtle

by robotsandmonsters



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Bay Movies), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Reader-Insert, Romance, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-14 14:53:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14771774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robotsandmonsters/pseuds/robotsandmonsters
Summary: Reader is just an ordinary, every-day person leading an ordinary, every-day life when their life is changed upon meeting Leonardo, one of the teenage mutant ninja turtles. This leads Reader on a journey of friendship, a new-found family, love and a new way of living.Takes place in the Bay-Verse (2014 & 2016 movies) of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles but can be viewed as different versions.





	1. Meeting Leonardo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader is coming home from work and unexpectedly meets a stranger on her roof; a mutant turtle named Leonardo.
> 
> (y/n) = your name

I was walking through the rainy streets of New York City. It had been a beautiful and sunny day throughout the morning and afternoon, but as it had begun to draw to a close the weather had gone downhill. I had started the day believing it would remain warm and was unprepared for the sudden shift.

This left me walking through the city without a coat or umbrella, instead in a t-shirt, some half length trousers, some sneakers and a shoulder bag which I was currently protecting from the rain as it contained my laptop. I was walking back home from the restaurant after working a ten hour shift and had not brought any cash for a cab home, expecting to walk the journey back with better weather.

  
As I neared my apartment building, I realized that I had left my clothes on top of the building as I dried my washing on a line on the roof, mainly because of the cost just to use a dryer in my building was hardly worth it for every washing day. I grunted loudly and rushed into the entrance, feeling heavy with all the rain water soaking every inch of my body.

I rushed to the elevator and clicked the button to the top floor, where my apartment was. I would have never been able to afford it, but after the death of my parents several months ago they left the apartment to me, which they had bought shortly after I was born, in their will, and as I had recently turned eighteen I was legally allowed to live in the property, only paying for things like food and water and electric.

Plus, the superintendent, Steven, had a soft spot after what happened to my family and helped me out whenever I was too worn out from work, bringing me soup and vegetables and coming over on Sundays to watch TV and cook dinner with me.

  
The elevator opened and I rushed to the roof hatch at the end of the hallway. Nobody goes up there apart from Steven and myself, when he is maintaining the antennas and when I am drying my clothes, or when I just want to sit atop to look out to the city. I fumbled my key and just as I was about to put it into the lock I heard loud voices. I paused and pressed my ear to the door, listening to whoever was on the roof.

 

"You guys never listen to a word I say! I'm the leader of this group, you have to follow what I do, but you're all just irresponsible!" One voice said.

 

"Irresponsible?! Coming from the guy who ran into a mission and expected us all to know what to do! You're can't be leader without leading the team!" Another voice yelled

 

"Just get out of here, Raph! You can go and explain to Master Splinter why our stake-out led to another bust," the first voice said, though this one sounded like he had deflated and given up with yelling. The last thing I heard was a grunt and heavy footsteps leaving the rooftop. This confused me, there was no other way off of the roof except for this door. I listened closely, certain that the two of them had left, but I still quietly put the key into the hole and pushed the door open inch by inch, peeking out into the gap.

  
I moved the door open more, trying not to make a sound, and looked around. I stepped out of the door and slowly approached my washing on the line before I heard a small noise coming from my right. I froze and turned and saw a shadow standing on the ledge of the building, looking out into the city. The silhouette was huge and bulky, like a man who had been on steroids for his entire life, and his back seemed to be swollen as large as his actual body. I found myself stepping towards him before my mind could get the better of me.

 

"Look out or you'll fall!" I exclaimed, running towards the figure. He turned towards me frantically and stared at me in shock; he hadn't heard me before I spoke. I stopped running and took in his appearance; he was green, almost alien looking and twice as big as me. He was wearing a blue bandana and had on large clothing covering his legs and waist, and carrying weapons. My mouth dropped as I stared a him, his expression turned panicked and he stepped off of the ledge and walked towards me slowly, his hands out in front of him.

 

"Easy, miss." The moment he spoke I felt my eyelids droop and my body collapse, and before losing consciousness I felt arms grab me before my head could hit the ground.

 

                                                                                                                         _

 

 

I awoke with a start, peering and taking in my surroundings. I was no longer on the roof but in my own apartment, all the curtains drawn and all the lights on, not in the way I had left it this morning. I took in everything that had happened; I had seen some huge green alien monster that could speak English and I had fainted and was now on my couch in my apartment. I was still in my wet clothes and I could see my wet laundry on the other sofa opposite the one I was currently lying on. I sat up, grunting slightly at the discomfort of lying in wet clothes. I looked around for any sign of the huge green thing and saw my balcony window slightly open. I got up from the sofa and approached slowly, and stood on the balcony was the being that I had seen upon arriving on the roof. I gasped and backed away slightly and he turned to me, his face fully illuminated by my apartment lights.

 

"What are you?" I asked hurriedly, and would be surprised if he even caught a word of my fast sentence.

 

"Please don't be afraid." He said. I suddenly remembered that his voice was one of the voices arguing with another on the roof. Did that mean there was more than one of these things?

 

"Easier said than done." Was all I could manage to reply. He sighed.

 

"Would it be okay if I came in?" he asked.

 

"Looks like you already did." I replied, after all, he had been the one to bring me back to my apartment. He was still waiting for a proper answer to his request, to which I just nodded and backed fully into my living area. He crouched through the door and drew the curtains. I wanted to shrug off my clothes and dry off, but didn't know how to do this entire situation. It was still processing that I had accepted some creature's request to come into my apartment.

 

"I...um...how did you know where I lived?" Was all I could say.

 

"Your bag had a laptop in it. I turned it on to check your name and came into the outside hallway and found the names and apartment listing. I took you inside and I'm hoping that the reason you were up there was for all the clothes otherwise I have taken one of your neighbours laundry." he replied. I huffed out a small breath and looked at my laundry. So much for leaving it fresh out to dry.

 

"Should've just used the damn drying machine." I uttered. I turned back him. "I need to get out of these clothes and dry myself off. Is it possible I can leave you here for ten minutes and you won't, I don't know, take my left shoes or eat all my bread?" he stared at me, trying to hide mild confused amusement.

 

"Excuse me?"

 

"Well, I, y'know, in urban legends there are different creatures, some take shoes and some eat food. I...just...yeah I'll just." I gave up talking and ran into my bedroom to take out a onesie and then ran to the bathroom. I quickly got out of my wet clothes and chucked them into the laundry basket and hopped into the shower, rinsing and barely giving myself time to think about the entire situation I was in before I climbed out after about six minutes and dried into my onesie. I shook my hair slightly and combed it with my fingers and exited the bathroom. The creature was sat on one of my sofas, drumming his fingers on his knee. I exhaled a shaky breath, moved my wet clothes into my laundry basket and sat on the sofa opposite him.

 

"Who...What are you?" I asked. He closed his eyes and sighed before looking at me.

 

"I'm Leonardo." Well, that didn't quite answer my question but at least he has a name.

 

"Leonardo?" I whispered. A fairly human name at that.

 

"Yes. I'm a mutant. A turtle mutant, that is I used to be a turtle, an ordinary turtle, but when I was just a little hatchling I was exposed to a mutation ooze experiment, and it made me smarter. It also made me more humanoid, essentially. That is, I walk, talk and think as a human can."

 

"So you're from Earth? Not an alien?" I asked. He chuckled slightly.

 

"No, not an alien. I've grown up and lived in New York City all my life." I was slightly slack jawed from everything he was saying. A mutant turtle? I guess it explained the huge back; it was his shell.

 

"How many of you are there?" I asked. Leonardo recoiled slightly and gripped his knee.

 

"Just me." he said quickly. I raised an eyebrow.

 

"I heard you on the roof earlier. You were yelling and arguing with someone else. So either you've got a secret human friend who can mysteriously disappear or jump miraculously from building to building or there are more of you." I said. He gritted his teeth, whispering a small 'damn it' under his breath.

 

"I won't tell, you know?" I said. His eyes widened.

 

"You wouldn't?"

 

"No, I mean, you haven't harmed me yet so I'm guessing that you don't hurt or eat people. I have no reason to tell anyone, who would believe me anyway?" He let out a heavy sigh of relief.

 

"There are five of us altogether. Me and my three brothers, all turtles, Raph, Donnie and Mikey and our father, Master Splinter. He's, kind of, a giant rat." Hearing that end to the sentence was just the icing on top of a weird day that I let out a laugh before covering my mouth. Leonardo smiled.

 

"I guess it does sound kind of ridiculous when you've grown up being surrounded by humans." He laughed slightly too. I look at the clock on my wall; 7:16pm. An hour ago I was walking back from work on a normal if rainy day, and now I was sat in my living room talking to a giant mutant turtle named Leonardo. I stood up.

 

"I'm ordering food. I don't suppose there's anything I can do for you, do you eat human food or...I don't know, giant vegetables?" I asked. Leonardo smiled and stood also.

 

"Thank you, but I've been here too long, everyone will wonder why I haven't gone home yet."

 

"And where is home?" I asked. He smirked slightly.

 

"There's a reason New York don't know about us." I nodded, of course he would want to keep it secret.

 

"I'm (y/n), by the way." I said.

 

"I know, I saw it when I was trying to get you into the apartment, remember? God, it's a good thing you live on the top floor. I don't know what I would have done with you otherwise." I smiled and grabbed my phone from my bag, getting ready to order from the pizza place down the street.

 

"Well, Leonardo, can I at least give you my number? I eventually want to make it up to you for bringing me to my apartment whilst I fell unconscious on you." He stared at me for a few seconds, stumped, before blinking and grabbing his phone from his pocket of his trousers. It looked bulky and home-made.

 

"Um, uh, sure." I gave him my number, to which he texted me his own. I smiled, chuckling slightly at this odd end to my day. Looks like my seemingly ordinary life had become more interesting. Leonardo walked to my door, opening it and peering out of it, looking down the hallway before running to the roof hatch. I ran behind him.

 

"It was nice meeting you, Leonardo."

 

"Leo, please. And likewise, (y/n)." he replied, before jumping through the unlocked roof hatch and into the rain, and as I grabbed the key to lock it and dialed the number for pizza, I felt myself smiling at the space where he had just been standing. Leo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I'll be updating every few days, the first few chapters will follow Reader and Leo beginning the developing a friendship and relationship, and soon I will be doing fun scenarios. Once those begin, feel free to submit comments with scenarios that you'd like to see and I'll try to write them in! Thank you so much!


	2. Texting and Talking with Leo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader and Leo begin texting and before they know it they are spending the day watching TV together, which leads to some heartfelt discussion getting to know more about each other's lives.
> 
> (y/n) = your name

I woke up the next morning feeling as if the events of the previous day had not in fact happened. I almost thought it was a dream until I saw the pile of damp clothes in the laundry basket still waiting to be properly dried, which served as a reminder of whom I found of the rooftop. I sighed, walking to my kitchen to make a cup of coffee and eyed my clock; 8:42am. It was my day off work and I was still up early, when you get into a habit of waking up at the same time almost everyday it's hard to get out of that habit.

 

I sighed and put bread in the toaster, changing into a sweater and some shorts, hoping for a day inside as the weather today was just as bad as yesterday. I sat on my couch with my toast and coffee and switched on the TV, which was all either cartoons, news about the latest sweep of crimes or sports. I sighed and switched it back off, choosing to sit in my nook corner next to the window and looked out into the rainy city.

 

As I finished my breakfast I grabbed my phone from my bedroom and sat back next to the window, this time eying my contacts instead of the view. I stared at the name 'Leo', and my thumb hovered over the 'text' button. I bit my lip, unsure of how soon I should try to message Leo. Did he not come out during the day, was he only a night...turtle? My gosh, it's still so strange to refer to him as a turtle. I inhaled and tapped my thumb on the icon before I could think twice and broad up my keyboard.

 

_'Hey Leo, it's (y/n), how are you?'_

 

I exhaled heavily and smacked myself in the forehead; I had just texted a mutant turtle after meeting him one night and knowing him barely an hour. My phone buzzed within a minute and I almost dropped my phone from shock. He had replied?

 

_'Hi (y/n)! I'm good thank you, how are you? L.'_

 

My eyes widened and I gripped my phone tightly. He really had replied. He texts. Of course he texts, he's a giant English speaking mutant turtle, for goodness sake.

 

_'I'm great! Was gonna dry clean my clothes and spend the day watching movies. What about you?'_

 

I had told him I was going to dry clean clothes. This weapon wielding night figure probably led the most interesting and strange life and I had told him I was dry cleaning clothes. I cringed at myself before my phone buzzed again.

 

_ 'Was just going to spend the day training. What movies were you going to watch? L.' _

 

I smiled and typed back a reply, feeling like this was becoming a normal conversation that I could almost have with an ordinary everyday friend.

 

_'Was going to watch Star Trek!'_

 

I smiled and sat more upright, staring at the screen and just waiting for the next reply from Leo.

 

_ 'Really? I've only ever seen Star Wars, which is, as I understand it, more superior. L.' _

 

I smirked at his message and shook my head, typing speedily.

 

_'Ah, you may think it is more superior just because it's more mainstream, but Star Trek is more science and tech and space based! It's sci-fi at it's best! Star Wars is great but limited. Star Trek has no limit.'_

 

The moment I sent the text I regretted it. My science fiction nerd had begun to shine through a bit too much. I'm infamous among my colleagues at the restaurant where I work based on the fact that once someone gets me talking about science fiction I can never stop. My phone buzzed and I winced and peaked at the screen.

_'Sounds good! I'll have to start it. If it has no limit, where do I begin? :P L.'_

 

…He sent an emoji. A turtle knows how to send emojis. I stared at the actual text. He wanted to know where to begin and wanted to start Star Trek just because I had recommended it. A thought occurred and before I could tell myself to stop I was typing out the next text.

 

_'Why don't you come to mine and we could get a start on the very first original series? I could fix up some snacks and you already know where I am. If it's not out of your way, that is? :)'_

 

I groaned and sank into my chair and wound up curling on the floor, covering my face. I barely knew Leo other than the fact that he was a mutated turtle with a rat dad, three turtle brothers and that he hangs around on rooftops on rainy nights.

 

_ 'Really? Wow, great! I can be there for 11? Thank you, sounds like fun! L.' _

 

I gawked and could only reply with a thumbs up emoji and locked my phone. I was having a...turtle...coming round for snacks and Star Trek. If this was any other person I was texting it would only be a ''me' day as none of my other friends would set foot in my apartment if it included Star Trek. This was the first person I knew who was willingly sitting through a Star Trek series with me. I looked at my clock; 9:30am. An hour and a half.

 

I leapt from my chair and grabbed some money from my draws and ran to the elevator. As soon as it opened and I was near the entrance doors to my building I suddenly remembered that it was still raining and I was in shorts. I huffed and exited the building entrance door and ran a couple of feet to my left to a small convenience store near the building. I grabbed oven cook burgers, fries, potato chips, cookies, chocolates, pop tarts, popcorn and pizza rolls. I threw my cash at the register and ran back to my apartment building. As soon as I was in the apartment I tied up my hair into a messy bun and set up the food onto plates and put the chilled food in the fridge, ready to be cooked later for afternoon lunch. I placed the foot on my coffee table and set up the couches so that they were both in view of the television. Once all this was done I looked at my clock again; 10:03am. I still had another hour to go.

 

I took a deep breath and ran to my bedroom, fixing and clipping back my hair out of the bun so that it could curl naturally and slightly less wildly than this morning 'bed hair' and I put on some loose jeans, perfect for if I get bloated whilst eating all the food. 10:20am. I sighed and looked at my phone once again, checking to see if Leo would cancel or arrive earlier than scheduled. Nope, no change whatsoever. Somehow this made me more nervous. I didn't know anything about him, would he want to know more about me? Would today involve just watching television or would there be actual talking, like what ordinary people do when they have someone over at their place? I lied down on my couch and covered my face, trying to calm down before sitting up and taking a deep breath. 'You're okay' I thought 'he seems like a perfectly ordinary...man...male...and he's probably just as nervous. Calm down'.

 

I took some deep breaths in and out before taking some headache pills for good measure and turned on the TV to find my streaming services to get all the episodes of Star Trek. Before long I heard a knock on my balcony doors and I jumped slightly and looked at my clock quickly; 10:55am. That time really had flown by once I got my thoughts more coherent. I looked at the balcony door and saw Leonardo in a large raincoat/blanket that covered almost all of his body. I suppose that's why he was out last night and not during the day; it was easier for him to conceal himself in the shadows. I ran and opened the doors, allowing him to come in and shake off the wet raincoat/blanket. I smiled at him.

 

"Hi!" my voice cracked slightly and I rolled my eyes at myself. He smiled back at me.

 

"Hey, (y/n). Nice seeing you in daylight." He said. I cleared my throat nervously and let out a small laugh.

 

"Thanks! Um, you too!" We both stood next to the balcony doors, slightly shuffling and before it could become awkward between us Leo looked in the middle of the room.

 

"You really didn't have to get all this stuff, (y/n)!" He walked to the middle of the room, shrugging off some of his belts and utility gear, including two very large and threatening swords that I wasn't going to ask about any time soon. I looked around and back at me with some of his heavy gear in his hands and I was shaken out of my position by the balcony.

 

"Honestly, it's no problem! It's snack and Star Trek day!" I ran towards him and placed his stuff in the kitchen and drew the living room curtains.

 

"Drink?" I asked. We both had some water and were sat on the same couch and I grabbed the remote and smiled at Leo, ready to begin the show and I tried not to get too excited about showing someone Star Trek for the first time in their life. I only prayed that he liked it.

 

                                                                                                                                        _

 

  
It was 2:00pm and we were only three episodes in, and already Leonardo was beginning to enjoy the show, engrossed into the TV. I was happy he wasn't complaining about the 1960s special effects and costumes. I paused the show and put the burgers, fries and pizza rolls in the oven, and sat down next to Leo, ready to start the next episode.

 

"How are you finding it? If you're not liking it I can just stick on one of the new films or the more recent series'?" I said, staring to let my nerves get the better of me.

 

"No, honestly (y/n), I'm really liking this show! It's fun!" he said reassuringly. I sighed with relief and sat back on the couch, smiling at Leo and he smiled back. He bit his lip slightly and opened his mouth to speak.

 

"I'm surprised you wanted me back again, especially so soon." he said. I sat up and looked at him, crossing my legs up and facing him properly.

 

"Why wouldn't I?"

 

"Well, I'm a complete stranger and a...I'm different. I just don't know what it is that made you wanna see me again, y'know?" I furrowed my brows and moved slightly closer to him.

 

"Last night you were so kind to me, and I told you I wanted to make it up to you for bringing me out of the rain when I fainted last night. You are different, but you don't seem threatening, or scary, or even dangerous." Leo scoffed.

 

"You didn't see the weapons I carry with me?"

 

"I didn't really want to ask, I thought it would be rude."

 

"It wouldn't," Leo said before also turning to face me, "the reason me and my brothers were on the roof last night was because we were on a simple scouting mission; check for any danger or any trouble stirring. We saw some activity with the Foot Clan," I gasped. The Foot Clan were a notorious criminal group in New York City, managing to evade the police force for months now. Leo continued,

 

"I ran into the Foot Clan hoping to find out more about their leader and what they've been doing, and we failed, not managing to get to a single member. They're better fighters than we are. That's what we do, (y/n), me and my brothers fight these kind of people."

 

"Like...vigilantes? Like Batman?" Leo chuckled,

 

"I guess. We're ninjas, our father trained us in the art of ninjutsu as children. That's what the blades are that I carry, they're the Katana blades, noble weapons for a leader. And last night me and my brother Raph had a fight because I ran into the Foot Clan expecting a fight and I didn't lead the team properly. He was right, sometimes I can charge without consulting the plan with my brothers, and that is not what makes a great leader. I have to keep them unified. It's my job to make sure we're a team." Leo looked down and put his head in his hands. I moved over and rested my hand on his shoulders.

 

"Leo, it's not just your job, it's everyone's job. That's what makes a team, not just the leader. Sounds like you all have different responsibilities. And if you did mess up, then the best you can do is talk and grow from it and realise what went wrong so that you can improve. Everybody makes mistakes, Leo. Everybody blames themselves for stuff that is out of their control," Leo looked at me and rested his hand near my knee, unsure of whether I would object to physical contact from him.

 

"You think so?" he asked. I sighed and closed my eyes.

 

"Leo, I know exactly what it's like to feel responsible for things that go wrong, especially with family. Sometimes you can't forgive yourself, sometimes you blame yourself, but also what's done is done, and even if something is your fault you have to pick yourself up and realise that when something bad happens, it's not permanent or forever. There is always a chance to make something good out of something bad. I haven't quite had something good come out of my something bad yet, but I'm not giving up on finding it." I opened my eyes and found Leo a few inches from me, looking at me concerned.

 

"Something bad?" he asked hesitantly. I gulped and looked behind us at a picture on my shelves of me and my parents, taken on my sixteenth birthday.

 

"My parents. They died last year and I blamed myself because I caused it to happen. I was driving a new car that they had gotten me, and we were coming into the city and I wasn't familiar with the car. It was a manual, I'd only ever driven automatic. As we came into the city I used the wrong gear shift and before I knew it the car hit a huge truck, and another car hit us from behind. The car was near crushed. My dad was in the passenger seat and died instantly, and me and my mom were in the hospital. It took her 39 hours to die. I lived. And I know it was my fault, I shouldn't have been so eager to drive a car that I didn't know how to drive." I felt tears rushing down my face; I hadn't spoken to anyone about my parents ever since their death. I felt Leo's large hands wipe my cheek and I sniffed.

 

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm all..." I sniffed again.

 

"Hey, it's okay to talk. Like you said, everybody can make mistakes and everybody can grow from them." Leo smiled at me and put his arm on my back. "You said you were waiting to find something good, well it doesn't have to happen right now. You said they died last year, you don't have to find a good thing right away. You can take as long as you want, a year, five years, ten years, twenty. Your good thing can be anything you want it to be. Your good thing can be, I dunno, meeting someone from Star Trek, or going to the gym, or going to a foreign country, or something as simple as trying a new food. It doesn't have to be anything extraordinary." He held me tight and was half hugging me and I cried some more, this time with slightly happier tears at having spoken about everything and before we knew it we heard the oven timer go and jumped away from each other. I wiped my eyes and nose and stood up.

"C'mon, Leo, time for some more Star Trek, more fast food and hopefully no more crying and monologuing like poets." he laughed and I plated our burgers and fries and pizza rolls, resuming Star Trek.

It wasn't until 9:00pm that Leo left my apartment to join his brothers on patrol, making the excuse to them that he spent the day meditating somewhere downtown and out of sight. I gave him his weapons and we parted ways as we made our goodbyes on my building roof. We hugged once more and promised to watch the rest of Star Trek on my next day off work. When Leo jumped to the next building and I watched him run off into the distance, I instantly felt like a lighter person. Maybe talking to someone like him, someone different, was exactly what my ordinary life needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for the kudos and comments! Love writing this! Soon Reader will be delving more into friendship with Leo, which will develop into something more ;) and soon they will meet the brothers and Master Splinter.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this fanfiction! I am hoping to write more in the future and if this goes well, maybe some reader-inserts with different turtles!


End file.
